CMU POP QUIZ
Keep the answers to this week's pop quiz questions (more ad soundtrack questions this week) and we'll tell you how to enter on Friday. Answers to last week's quiz below.

Q3: The song - Dario G's 'Carnival De Paris' - whose ad?

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UNIVERSAL PLANS EXPECTED
Vivendi Universal boss Jean Rene Fourtou was last night expected to give his shareholders some indications as to his plans for the struggling entertainment group over the next two years - and crucially give word on whether Universal's music operations are up for sale. Pass indications were that Fourtou was keen to keep the Universal record labels, but then last week rumours began that both Apple Mac and Microsoft has expressed an interest in acquiring the music company, wholly or as part of a management buy out. Yet yesterday afternoon insiders reckoned Fourtou was more keen to flog off his movie assets than his music business. So remains to be seen what plans Fourtou has and whether he will rigidly stick to them even if generous buy out offers for the record labels are on the table.

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TRAVIS ON THE NEW ALBUM
Travis have been talking to Xfm about their new album, a follow up to 2001's 'Invisible Band'. Fran Healy said that after a six month break following drummer Neil Primrose's accident last summer, the band have been working hard on new material and an album should hit stores in the Autumn.

"We have been recording, and we're confidently close to having a very cool record finished. Everyone that's heard it says it sounds quite a bit 'different'. I don't think so, I think it still sounds like us, but then again you never really know how others hear you. I really don't know when we'll be playing live. I think there are gigs being booked at the moment, but you can expect us coming back around June or July time, and we'll really start gunning it sometime in October."

Travis are among the artists that appear on the recent War Child album of course.

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VINES DRUMMER ON THOSE COKE IMAGES
Vines drummer Hamish Rosser has been talking to the NME about that story that Coke has put frontman Craig Nicholls' image on their cans without his permission. Confirming the use of the image had not been authorised by Nicholls, Rosser said: "Craig's drinking Dr Pepper now! He's onto Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper's not made by the Coca Cola Corporation (in the US), but it's still a sugary caffeine drink! I mean, he's given Coke enough free marketing as it is by drinking it all the time. For them to do what they've done, I think they're taking the piss, really." No word on whether the band or their management will take legal action, though Coke have confirmed they are looking into the allegations.

The band are about to head into the studio to record their second album. On that Rosser added: "We'll record 16 songs and end up with 12. We'll record all the songs we've been doing on this tour that aren't on the first album, so 'Amnesia' will be on it, 'Fuck The World''s definitely on it, we're gonna record 'Evil Town', 'Drown The Baptists', 'Sun Child', hopefully 'Blues Riff' will make it, that's a good one, 'TV Pro'... There's a couple of new ones, one called 'Going Gone', we've done that at a soundcheck but we've not played it at a gig yet, and that's not any of the previous demos, and 'Windy Days' will be on it, that's another one."

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REVIEW: Mew - Frengers (Sony/Epic)
Some have compared Mew to that early 90s shoegazing scene but, whilst there's some truth in that, there's far more to this band than simple effects pedals and footwear scrutiny. 'Frengers' takes Slowdive's saturated-with-melancholy/Sonic Cathedral of Sound approach and uses it in the context of otherworldly songs a la Flaming Lips / Mercury Rev, ending up with some quite marvelous, almost indefinable, pop symphonies. If this all makes the music sound shy and apologetic, then listen to the (shock!) loud guitars on 'Am I Wry? No', '156' and 'Behind The Drapes' and suddenly you're also thinking 'Bends'-era Radiohead, Muse and such like. It remains, though, the heartbreaking epics of 'She Came Home For Christmas' (a festive number one every year in some perfect, parallel universe) and the nine minute 'Comforting Sounds', that leave you most awestruck and struggling for futile metaphors and adjectives. Danes Mew have a knack for making the happy sound wonderfully sad, their music similarly being imbued with a glacial, windswept melancholy evocative of long Scandinavian winters. A staggeringly beautiful album. MS
Release date: 7 Apr
Press contact: Sainted [CP, RP, NP] Sony IH [CR, RR, NR]

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COMPLAINTS UPHELD AGAINST ROSS, BUT NOT AGAINST BOYS AND GIRLS AD
Both the BBC's complaints unit and the Broadcasting Standards Commission have upheld complaints over comments made by Jonathan Ross on his Radio 2 show last December. The first complaint followed an interview with Bargain Hunt host David Dickinson who was promoting his video. Ross commented: "If you wait until the end of the video there's a scene with David bringing himself off on an Ottoman." In the second incident a week later Ross used the word 'wanker' on air, and made jokes about the terminally ill. The BSC said Ross' comments were inappropriate for the time of airing, while the BBC admitted he had "gone to far" with these particular remarks.

Meanwhile the Advertising Standards Authority have rejected complaints over a poster for the flop Channel 4 show Boys and Girls which some deemed "degrading" and "offensive". The poster in question posed the question: "Boys. Before a date you can only clean one body part. A. Your teeth? B. Your genitals?". Most complaints came from the posting on the poster outside a school. Channel 4 said the poster campaign was designed to reflect the "youthful and irreverent personality of the show" and was intended to be light-hearted and humorous, but added that it did regret the one poster appearing outside a school. The ASA ruled that although the posters "might cause some embarrassment" they were unlikely to be considered degrading.

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GREAT WHITE SURVIVORS PLAY TRIBUTE SHOW
Guitarist Mark Kendall and singer Jack Russell of Great White were last night performing for the first time since that tragic fire at that Rhode Island club as part of a benefit in memory of their guitarist Ty Longley, who died in said fire. Proceeds from the pair's performance were donated to a charity overseen by Longley's parents and earmarked for a scholarship assistance program and trust fund for his unborn child.

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OSBOURNE JNR ON HIS REHAB
Ozzy Osbourne has spoken to People magazine about his much hyped check into a detox clinic last week. He says: "I got caught up in my new lifestyle and got carried away with drugs and alcohol. Once I realised this, I voluntarily checked myself into a detox facility for my own health and well-being."

Ozzy has confirmed he is supporting his son saying: "It takes a lot of courage and strength to admit you need help, and both Sharon and I are proud Jack is facing his problems head-on."

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LIVE REVIEW: Antenna at NFT on 29 Apr
It's only Antenna 4, and already the night that aims to showcase independent music video talent, has a large following of film people, industry people, and assorted public peoples. As usual, the National Film Theatre played host to the night of film and forum, and the panel of guests included Shane RJ Walter, commissioner John Hassay, and Rob Leggatt and Leigh Marling of directing team Blue Source, who's videos to Fatboy Slim's 'Bird Of Prey', 'Babybird's 'Out Of Sight' and in particular Dirty Vegas' 'Days Go By' were rapturously received. With fantastic videos from Ruben Fleischer (DJ Format 'We Know Something You Don't Know') and current darlings Shynola (Queens Of The Stone Age 'Go With The Flow') amongst others, the night really shows up the extruded shit people on cable, satellite, digital are subjected to, and with the opportunity to vent spleen on the panel it is fast becoming one of the music industry's primary interfaces with film makers. For More info and to join the Antenna mailing list go to http://www.antennapromo.co.uk. JG

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ROSKILDE LINE UP UPDATE
Billy Corgan's Zwan and Massive Attack were yesterday added to the Roskilde line-up - they will perform alongside headliners Metallica, Iron Maiden, Coldplay, Queens of the Stone Age and The Datsuns. 100 acts have been added to the bill this week - among them Asian Dub Foundation, Bjork, Beenie Man, Blur, The Cardigans, Chicane, Dirty Vegas, The Doves, Junkie XL, Lemon Jelly, NAS, The Soundtrack of our Lives and The Streets.

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IRISH POP PREMIER LEAGUE OPEN SPECIAL OLYMPICS
U2, the Corrs, Samantha Mumba, and Ronan Tynan will be among the entertainers performing at the opening ceremony of the 11th Special Olympics World Summer Games which take place in Dublin in June. The event, hosted by Patrick Kielty, will also feature the largest collection of Riverdancers ever assembled, but don't let that put you off.

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POPSTAR LOSERS LAUNCH BAND
No doubt keen to do a 'Liberty X' the five runner up boys from the last series of Popstars have launched themselves as a rival boyband called Phixx. The group have already recorded a cover of the Prince song 'Gett Off' and have been working with leading pop songwriters to create some new tracks. The band, who are being managed by Nathan Moore, once upon a time frontman with Brother Beyond (remember them?), hope to have a single out in July.

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US ARTISTS RALLY AGAINST RADIO DE-REGULATION
Thirty major recording artists - including Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and Michael Stipe - have signed a letter to the chairman of the US's Federal Communications Commission warning him further de-regulation of the radio industry in American "will have a negative impact on access to diverse viewpoints and will impede the functioning of our democracy."

Moves are afoot in the US to remove remaining media ownership rules essentially allowing less companies to own more media (providing they're US based companies). But the artists argue that previous radio deregulation has backfired, resulting in "reduced marketplace competition, reduced programming diversity and the homogenization of playlists, reduced public access to the airwaves for local programming, and reduced public satisfaction with listening options."

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JUDGE SAYS "SOMETIMES GIGS ARE LOUD"!
A judge has ruled against a lawyer who sued former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty for playing too loud at a gig in New York. The lawsuit claimed that the 1997 concert featured "unsafe levels of noise" and caused "a profound loss of hearing in his left ear." But Judge Martin Schoenfeld told the lawyer: "That 'loud music' can cause hearing impairment is perfectly obvious and commonly appreciated," and added that "an objective, reasonable 51-year-old lawyer, particularly one who has experienced ringing in his ears after prior concerts, would know that loud music can cause hearing impairment." No comment from the
lawyer, or from Fogerty whose people claimed to know nothing of the case.

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POP IDOL JUDGE TO CAMEO IN SIMPSONS
Pop Idol judge and BMG pop man Simon Cowell is likely to guest in an episode of The Simpsons where he will play a nursery school admissions officer who doesn't hold back in his criticism of the toddlers he interviews. Talking to the TV Times Simpsons executive producer Al Jean confirmed: "We're talking about a story where the Simpsons are having trouble getting baby Maggie into nursery school. And we thought it would be funny if
he played the nursery school admissions officer."

Jean reckons that despite an initial backlash the American public are warming to Cowell: "Overall I'd say he's liked rather than loathed. Everyone else is such a Hollywood phoney - he's the only one who says what you're thinking, which is that half the people on the show are terrible."

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REVIEW: The Mooney Suzuki - Electric Sweat (Sony/Columbia)
Leather trousers, booze, drugs, motorbikes and trashing hotel rooms - yep, being in a badass rock'n'roll band sounds like a jolly jape. There's only one drawback, and that's that the lifestyle is rather tiring. Let's be honest, a three day speed and whiskey binge would leave most of us incapacitated for a couple of days, so let's leave it to these musical jackasses to do it for us. Playing like it's the glory days of CBGB's, the Suzuki's thrash about enough to make your ceiling sweat like a moshpit. Respectfully trad without sounding dated and exciting enough to sound brand new, here's a band who have dodged crass hype and produced a proper garage punk fest worth raving about. Zipping by in a frenzied half an hour, scorching tunes like "Natural Fact" and "A Little Bit Of Love" are so rampant and anarchic, there should be no stopping them. All hail the leather trousers. TO
Release date: 12 May
Press contact: Triad [CP, RP, NP] Sony IH [CR, RR, NR]

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SI BEGG RETURNS
DJ Si Begg will release his first album under that name (ie not as SI Futures or The Mission Statement) via Novamute next month. Described by his label as a "genre defying mix of tracks" we're promised R&B booty techno, tuff UK garage, abstract electronics and the late eighties Sheffield sound. Guest appearances will also be made by, among others, DJ Rush, Miss MC and Jinadu.

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PRODIGY MAN LAUNCHING NEW BAND
The NME have unearthed some info about the new band formed by the Prodigy's Keith Flint. One insider told them: "Keith wrote the lyrics for the album during his Prodigy downtime and the band started jamming them at his house in Essex. They went into the studio at the turn of the year and have made a fuck off album!"

Word is the band have been filming a video for their first single release with Jonas Akerlund, the controversial directory behind the Prodigy's notorious 'Smack My Bitch Up' video, that they are planning a semi-secret debut gig in London at the end of May, and that their debut album will be out in July.

Said insider added that Keith hadn't actually left the Prodigy, and that Liam Howlett was currently in the studio finishing off a new Prodigy album which should surface before the end of the year.

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TABLOIDS TURN ON POP MANAGERS
After reports of how 'little' the S Club members made out of their time in the band compared to manager Simon Fuller, The Sun today claims Liberty X, Atomic Kitten and Steps all receive relatively little income from their pop pursuits with most of the profits being swallowed by their respective management companies. All in all it seems artist managers, rather than the record labels, are set to become the baddies of the pop world.